The Jeff Denham recall is a flop.

I’m watching the five counties that comprise state Senator Jeff Denham‘s district, and it appears the effort to recall him — an effort concieved, bankrolled and then abandoned by Oakland’s own state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata — is going down to defeat in a landslide.

My latest numbers are 38,536 voting no, 11,813 voting yes — that’s a 77 percent to 23 percent defeat. And early though those returns may be, that’s a good old-fashioned butt whupping.

Denham just issued a victory statement:

The idea of recalling a legislator because he voted against a budget that was $4 billion out-of-balance is ludicrous. Don Perata’s dream of gaining a 2/3 majority to raise our taxes has thankfully been crushed. The voters have spoken and they do not want their taxes raised on a massive scale to cover the mistakes of the politicians in Sacramento.

I haven’t heard anything from Perata yet, but I’ll update this post if I do.

Read Denham’s complete statement, after the jump…

Tonight we have all won a great victory. I say we, because this recall was never just about Jeff Denham.

This recall was widely condemned as unjustified and an abuse of the process. It set a terrible precedent. It raised the question which is more powerful – the will of the people or the agenda of an outside power-broker?

Tonight’s rejection of this recall effort answered that question loud and clear.

Our coalition of local Democrat, Republican and Independent community leaders came together quickly to oppose this recall. To all of you, I am honored by your support of me and grateful for your faith in me. Many of the people opposing the recall were longtime supporters of mine, but many were first time supporters too. Again, thank you.

A lot of time, money and energy was wasted by Senator Perata on this failed recall effort. With all the challenges facing our state, this recall was divisive and distracted the Legislature from focusing on our state budget crisis.

This election result is a credit to the people of the Central Valley and Central Coast. The more we were attacked, the stronger the opposition to the recall grew. The voters saw through the cynical political attacks.

The idea of recalling a legislator because he voted against a budget that was $4 billion out-of-balance is ludicrous. Don Perata’s dream of gaining a 2/3 majority to raise our taxes has thankfully been crushed. The voters have spoken and they do not want their taxes raised on a massive scale to cover the mistakes of the politicians in Sacramento.

Tonight we have won a great victory and we have a right to enjoy that victory. However, tomorrow there is much work to do.

Once again the state is in a massive deficit.

Federal judges and their apologists in the Legislature are trying to release dangerous prisoners on to our streets.

We are told that the only way to solve the state’s problems is by giving the lottery away to Wall Street billionaires or by hiking taxes on hard-working Californians.

This is no way to run the Golden State. We must seek out-of-the-box solutions.

– We must sell off surplus state property that is no longer needed;

– We must cut regulations that are strangling small business and killing jobs;

– We must build new water storage facilities that are desperately needed by people, business and agriculture;

I look forward to once again extending an olive branch, as I have many times before, to all my colleagues in Sacramento so that we can help rebuild our state.

A silver lining of this failed recall effort is that it is a wake-up call to the old style politicians and their worn-out ways.

The People of California want leaders who will provide honest leadership about our state budget. They want better solutions than simply raising taxes at every turn.

Finally, to everyone here tonight, I again want to thank you. I am proud to have earned your support and will always work hard to keep your trust. Thank you.

Josh Richman

Josh Richman covers state and national politics for the Bay Area News Group.
A New York City native, he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and reported for the Express-Times of Easton, Pa. for five years before coming to the Oakland Tribune and ANG Newspapers in 1997.
He is a frequent guest on KQED Channel 9’s “This Week in Northern California;” a proud father; an Eagle Scout; a somewhat skilled player of low-stakes poker; a rather good cook; a firm believer in the use of semicolons; and an unabashed political junkie who will never, EVER seek elected office.